Oscars 2010

[Happy Mom]

The 82nd Academy Awards: Who Will Win, Who Should Win, and Why
posted by Matt Whitfield - Fri Mar 5 2010, 7:26 AM PST 1233 comments

Bullock and Bridges will prevail 20th Century Fox Yep, it's that time of year again: time to see who'll top the worst-dressed list, who'll deliver the sappiest acceptance speech, and just how many trophies The Hurt Locker will take home. But, there's a big difference between who'll win and who should.

Here are my best bets for the top 10 categories. Check 'em out and let me know your thoughts, but don't blame me if you don't sweep the office pool. And don't forget to tune in to the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, airing on Sunday on ABC.

Best Picture

Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

Who Will Win: The Hurt Locker

Who Should Win: Inglourious Basterds

Why: Only three films have a legitimate chance of winning Best Picture: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, and Inglourious Basterds. But because Avatar’s mastermind, James Cameron, and Inglourious Basterds' writer/director, Quentin Tarantino, and distributor Harvey Weinstein are all hated by hordes of Academy voters, the Kathryn Bigelow-directed war drama will take home the evening’s top prize.

Best Director

Nominees: James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

Who Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Who Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Why: Bigelow’s meticulous and mesmerizing work, accompanied by her Directors Guild victory, will result in history being made as the Academy finally honors its first-ever female Best Director winner.

Best Actress

Nominees: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Who Will Win: Sandra Bullock

Who Should Win: Carey Mulligan

Why: Newbies Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe would both have had a great shot at taking home gold had they been nominated in different years; but they weren’t, and as a result, they’ll cancel each other out. Helen Mirren, on the other hand, never had a shot. She got her trophy a few years ago for her role in The Queen. Oh, and nobody saw The Last Station. So, we’re down to first-time nominee Sandra Bullock and sixteen-time nominee and two-time winner Meryl Streep. In the closest race of the evening, Sandra will edge out Meryl for two reasons: she’ll probably never receive another nom, and Meryl will be back in the mix again next year.

Best Actor

Nominees: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges

Who Should Win: Colin Firth

Why: Despite Firth's heartbreaking performance and Clooney’s award-worthy work, Bridges will have to make room on his crowded mantle for his very first Oscar. Voters love him; he’s won every major award leading up to Sunday; and with four previous noms, everyone feels that it’s simply his turn to take home the trophy.

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees: Penelope Cruz (Nine), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Mo’Nique (Precious)

Who Will Win: Mo’Nique

Who Should Win: Mo’Nique

Why: With Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick splitting the vote and Penelope Cruz out of contention, it comes down to first-time nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal and fellow newcomer Mo'Nique. While a few critics think Mo’Nique’s polarizing personality could hurt her chances coming down the home stretch, there's really no doubt in my mind that she’ll emerge victorious and deliver a mag'nifique acceptance speech come Sunday.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees: Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Who Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Who Should Win: Christoph Waltz

Why: Let's be honest: Christoph Waltz gave one of the best supporting performances in recent memory. And with minimal competition from his fellow nominees, the 53-year-old Austrian actor will easily waltz away with his first, much-deserved Oscar.
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[Happy Mom]

OMG, I'm watching the Red Carpet and some of the dresses are just hideous and it is amazing that anyone would spend money on some of them, much less the thousands of dollars they cost.

Here's hoping Sandra Bullock wins!!! (Plus she looks amazing....)

[Happy Mom]

I'm so glad Sandra Bullock won and gave a wonderful acceptance speech!


Awards season is now, mercifully, over. The prognosticating and pontificating got to be a little much, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun to close it all out with the 82nd annual Academy Awards. Though there were only a few surprises as far as the awards go, many memorable moments will have people talking for the rest of the week... or maybe even the rest of the year. If you find yourself lacking in Oscar knowledge and want to participate in Monday's conversation around the water cooler, here are the five best and five worst moments they're most likely talking about.

Best "Simultaneously Heartwarming and Humorous Speech": Sandra Bullock
In the span of a few moments, the best-actress winner elicited uproarious laughter and even made her hubby, Jesse James, get a little misty. "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?” she quipped upon taking the stage. It wasn't the last laugh she got from the audience, which is remarkable considering she also gave a heartstring-tugging, detailed thank-you to her mother, who died 10 years ago next month.



Best "This Is the Same Person Who Directed 'Point Break'?" Award: Kathryn Bigelow
To put things mildly, Bigelow had a big night. Not only is she the first woman to ever win as best director, but her film, "The Hurt Locker," also led the evening with six wins -- including best picture. Not to mention, she got to have this night sitting right in front of her ex-husband, "Avatar" director James Cameron.

Best "Onstage Assembly of a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess and a Criminal" Award: The John Hughes Tribute
Molly Ringwald delivered a touching tribute to John Hughes while Matthew Broderick introduced a montage of Hughes' films by admitting, that every day of his life, someone taps him on the shoulder and says (in a thick New York accent), "Hey Ferris, is today your day off?" The pair was soon joined on stage by other Hughes regulars Ally Sheedy, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, Jon Cryer and Anthony Michael Hall, and the Internet was soon flooded with memories of the late director's work.

Best "Most Sincere Surprise" Award: "Push" Screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher
All of the so-called experts said "Up in the Air" was a shoo-in for the best adapted screenplay award, which might explain why Fletcher -- who adapted the novel "Push" by Sapphire for the "Precious" screenplay -- seemed so genuinely struck by gratitude in his acceptance speech. "This is for everybody who works on a dream every day," Fletcher said, once he found his words through his nearly palpable emotion.

Best "Emotional Roller Coaster" Award: Gabourey Sidibe.
An elated Sidibe was having the time of her life at the beginning of the ceremony, vamping away onstage with all of the other best-actor and best-actress nominees. Later, tearful emotion got the best of her when Oprah introduced her before the best-actress award was handed out. No other nominee came close to expressing this wide a range of emotions. To be fair, who wouldn't get emotional if Oprah were talking about them? Somewhere James Frey is still crying, too.

Worst "Trying Not to Anger the King of the World While Mocking the King of the World" Award: Ben Stiller
The rumor had it that Sacha Baron Cohen was going to dress up as a blue-skinned "Avatar" Na'vi while Stiller translated. Who knows if that scenario would've gone over better, but it was not easy to watch the yellow-eyed comedian try to make Na'vi jokes while a not-entirely-amused James Cameron watched. Even Stiller had to admit that the sketch "seemed like a better idea in rehearsal." See a clip from the sketch and judge for yourself:

Worst "Even Your Grandmother in Missouri Didn't Laugh at That" Award: Cameron Diaz and Steve Carell

Diaz and Carell were presenting the Oscar for best animated feature when, after a long-winded setup about how good-looking they both are, Diaz referred to Carell as "Jude." You see, Jude Law was "supposed" to be presenting the award with Diaz. You see, Law is a good-looking man and apparently Carell isn't. It's not clear which was worse -- that the moment could've been an orchestrated joke, or that it flopped so hard.

Worst "An Oscar Producer Must Have Just Watched 'Necessary Roughness' on DVD" Award: Kathy Ireland
At least, that's the only plausible explanation of why Ireland was selected to conduct red carpet interviews for ABC before the awards ceremony. Ireland was not, as they say in the business, "a natural." At one point she thanked a stunned Zac Efron three times for an interview and looked at him in bewilderment when he wouldn't walk away. Somewhere, Joan Rivers is calling her agent.

Worst "Couldn't They Have Just Shown Us the Dance Number from '(500) Days of Summer' Instead?" Award: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers
Oscar winners were warned to keep their speeches under 45 seconds. Apparently the Academy used the extra time to present an extended -- boy, was it extended -- dance montage to introduce the Oscar for best original score. Michael Giacchino won the award for "Up." Giacchino mentioned in his speech that being creative "is not a waste of time." Apparently Giacchino was not paying attention to the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.

Worst "Kanye West" Award: Elinor Burkett.
Or, as she is now known on Twitter: Crazy Red Hair Lady. "Music by Prudence" director Roger Ross Williams was right smack in the middle of his acceptance speech for winning best documentary short when Burkett, one of the film's producers, jumped onstage and interrupted the director by saying, "Isn't that just the classic thing," implying that it was unfair to have the male director speak rather than a female producer. She didn't even have the decency to say, "I'ma let you finish."
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